Judge grants government $1.5M forfeiture from Greg Lindberg

A federal judge granted the government forfeiture of nearly $1.5 million in funds previously seized from disgraced financier Greg Lindberg after his bribery conviction.

Lindberg, along with associate John Gray, was convicted in May of bribing North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey for a second time.

In his decision Monday, Judge Max O. Cogburn said the government met the "preponderance of the evidence" standard.

"Specifically, the record includes recorded discussions about the conspirators setting up independent expenditure committees for the express purpose of hiding the source of bribes and
funneling bribes to the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance," his decision states. "The trial record includes discussions whereby [it was] relayed to Defendants Gray and Lindberg that he had set up the committees and the conspirators confirmed that Lindberg had used $1.5 million to fund Wells Fargo accounts."

As part of the 2018 FBI investigation, Causey wore a recording device while meeting with Lindberg, who sought to replace then-deputy insurance commissioner Jackie Obusek with Debbie Walker.

According to court documents, Lindberg and his associates worked to conceal the source of funds to funnel to Causey. Once details were ironed out in June 2018, "Lindberg replied via email that he would 'cut the checks tonight,'" the government said in a request for forfeiture. "Thereafter, the Funds were deposited, in the form of a $500,000 check and a $1,000,000 check from Lindberg, into the accounts from which the FBI ultimately seized the Funds."

The funds are:

• Approximately $979,128.63 in funds seized from a Wells Fargo Bank account held in the name of North Carolina Growth and Prosperity Alliance Inc.; and
• Approximately $475,629.82 in funds seized from a Wells Fargo Bank account held in the name of North Carolina Growth and Prosperity Committee Inc.

"Defendants set-up and controlled the entities that held the Funds, opened Wells Fargo accounts in the names of the entities, and funded the accounts of the entities for the express purpose of bribing the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance and hiding the source of funds used to bribe the Commissioner," the government said in its request for forfeiture.

Lindberg, who is appealing his conviction, maintains that he was asking for "a reassignment of tasks" and there "was no quid pro quo." He also faces federal fraud charges, as well as other judgments to creditors.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.